Bedouins protest opening of Lehavim train station
Hundreds of Bedouins demonstrate at new Lehavim train station, saying it should be called Lehavim-Rahat; the name symbolizes deeper problem, says MK el-Sana
The Bedouin residents of Rahat are infuriated that the train station was not called "Lehavim-Rahat" as previously planned.
The Bedouin leadership in the South considers this yet another manifestation of the general disregard for the Bedouin population. During the inauguration ceremony, they held a demonstration in protest that the second largest Arab city in Israel had no public transportation.
MK Talab el-Sana (United Arab List) said that "the name (of the station) is not the issue, but it is a symptom of a much deeper problem."
Bedouin protestors at train station inauguration Sunday. (Photo: Hertzel Yosef)
The Bedouins stated that the station was opened in Lehavim where there were only 6,000 residents, while the number of Rahat residents and the "Bedouin dispersion" reached 50,000.
The protestors tried to delay the inauguration by petitioning to the High Court of Justice, and appealing to Jewish and Arab MKs.
However, the ceremony was held as planned in the presence of Lehavim residents and distinguished guests, with some 200 Bedouins standing on the other side of the fence, in the blazing desert sun, in protest.
One of the protestors told Ynet: "We've been good neighbors for over 20 years. We have never had any problems, but now it's like they are separating the Jews and the Arabs, and that hurts."
A large proportion of the harsh criticism regarding the train station was directed at Eli Levi, head of the Lehavim regional council, who told Ynet: "The station at Lehavim is not mine or my father's. It belongs first and foremost to the residents of Lehavim and the region. I worked hard initiating, promoting and establishing this station. I never saw any of the Rahat leadership at my side.
"Somebody is hitching a ride on this to advance nationalism and radicalism… We have seen this type of incitement in the past and we know where it can lead," he said.
Mayor of Arad, Moti Bril, who also participated in the ceremony said: "this has blown out of proportion. There is no reason to start a war between Jews and Bedouins."
